How to deal with a runaway girl

Chapter 1

This year, the beginning of summer in Japan was extremely hot. People hid in the shadows whenever they could. Many people tried to hide from the sun under folding umbrellas. On one such day, a car drove up to one of Tokyo's modern houses, one of those expensive models driven by businessmen who want to show the world their social position. Two foreigners got out of the car. A tall, middle-aged man and a young girl almost as tall as him. They both went to the trunk and took out their suitcases. The girl looked around curiously, but the man was already opening the door without looking back. As soon as she heard the key click, she shuddered and ran to the threshold, as if afraid that the man would leave her outside. Once inside, after taking off his shoes, the man started walking forward and, without looking back, started talking.

"Let's go, I'll show you where your room will be" His voice was rough and matter-of-fact. "If you need anything, just say so. For now, you are not allowed to leave the house without me. If you have any questions, now is the time to ask them. I'll be busy later"

They stopped in front of the door of one of the numerous rooms upstairs. The man walked inside, put the suitcases on the floor and looked at the girl for the first time, clearly waiting for a question.

"Where is the bathroom? I would like to freshen up a bit after the trip and, of course, rest" Said the girl without looking the man in the eye. Instead, her eyes wandered around the room.

"In the corridor, last door on the left" He replied in a dispassionate tone. "Hmm, yeah... I almost forgot... Dinner will be at 7 p.m." He added after a moment's thought.

The room fell silent. The man waited a moment, but when the girl was silent, he left and went down to the ground floor and entered his office right next to the kitchen.

"Yeah, nice to see you too... dad" The girl sighed and once again looked around the room without much interest.

After a while, she went to the suitcases, took out a few things and went to the bathroom. Once she was in the tub, immersed in a relaxing bubble bath up to her neck, she sighed once again.

"How could they think about something like that... Why did I come here? I'm nineteen, I can take care of myself..." She dipped her chin into the water and gurgled darkly to herself. "They could stop pretending to be interested in me. Really, a great idea... Let's show parental care to a sweet adult daughter...! Well, that's a fairy tale... It's about time"

After her bath, she returned to her new room and began unpacking and arranging her things. When she was finished, she threw herself on the bed and kicked off the sheets. Involuntarily she began to think about her parents. She grabbed her head and kicked her legs in a silent fit of anger.

"And what did my father think of giving me the name Aki?!" She finally burst out, for some reason complaining about something she actually liked. "Aki... Aki... hmm, when I think about it, it means autumn in Japanese... Maybe he wanted his child to be as changeable as this season...? Well, that's it... Sometimes I'm as cheerful as a cloudless sky, and sometimes I'm as gloomy as a rainy morning. There will even be a few lightning bolts! Seriously, if I were any more unstable, they would have to send me to therapy..."

(Not that they didn't try...) She already added that in her mind.

The scheduled dinner time was slowly approaching, so the girl went down to the kitchen. She sat down at the table and, as she usually did, started looking around the room. At precisely 7 p.m., her father came out of his office.

"Hmm, well..." He muttered to himself and then, loudly, added. "Wait a moment, I'll be back soon" And he left in a hurry.

(I have to get out of here...) Aki sighed, again.

After several minutes, her father was back, holding a pair of styrofoam boxes in his hands, which turned out to be today's meal. He placed them all on the table next to his place, opened half of them and, without looking at his daughter, started eating without a word.

(Yeah...) Aki made a sour face. (I won't say I was prepared, I took emergency food rations with me. Hmmm... chicken curry or tomato soup...)

She started to get up, thinking about what flavor of chinese soup to treat her palate with. Her father looked with surprise, first at her, then at the empty counter in front of her, and his eyes widened. He glanced at the closed boxes next to him and, without breaking the silence, pushed them to Aki. The meal ended in silence. Even though Aki started eating when her father was halfway through, all the boxes were emptied at the same time. The man picked them up and threw them into the trash can. He dusted off his hands, went to the fridge, poured himself a glass of cold water and, still without exchanging a word with his daughter, disappeared into the office. The girl followed him with her eyes, as soon as the door closed behind him, she stood up and started looking into the cabinets. The next time something like this happened, she wanted to be able to make something for herself, and she also needed to know where the dishes and cutlery were. Once she was done with that, she poured herself some orange juice and drank it, leaning her back against the fridge. Then she washed the glass and so, around 7:40 p.m., she slowly returned to her room. She changed into pajamas, lay on the bed and closed her eyes, burying her face in the pillow.

Aki's parents were business people for whom work was the most important thing. At first, Aki's father went to Japan several times a year for a few months, but after a few years he stopped coming back at all. Her mother, however, worked in a large American company in Los Angeles and came home once every few days. From the very beginning, Aki barely saw her parents. When she was very little, she was convinced that her mother was a hired nanny and that her real mother was her friend, and her father was just someone who stayed at their house from time to time.

There was never any affection in her family. Her parents never hugged her, never told her they loved her... In fact... They never praised her. To cope with this, Aki had to grow up very quickly, but having such parents as an example, it hurt her more than it helped her. The girl was very surprised when, one day during the holidays, her mother announced that she was going on a business trip to Europe and that Aki was to go to her father in Japan.

A/N Hello there dear  readers. This is one of several books that will have something in common. Each of them will have one or two characters who will be connected in some way to the rest. I wonder if you can spot them ;) Tell me in the comments.